Messi's time in the MLS

[5Matthew]

Lionel Messi, widely regarded as the best soccer player of all time, has come to the MLS (Major League Soccer). In mid-July of this year, Inter Miami successfully signed the 36 year old. In his contract: he will be given an ownership stake when he retires, a part of the revenue from Apple TV's MLS Season Pass, be able to maximize his deal with Adidas, and he will be given $250 million per year until Apple reaches a certain amount of subscribers. He also decided on Inter Miami over teams in Saudi Arabia because he wanted to get out of the spotlight a little bit. Another thing, Miami has a large Latino/Hispanic population and Messi can't/won't speak English well, so Inter Miami is a good fit for Messi on a language basis.

Inter Miami before Messi joined was on a losing streak of 11 games. They were the lowest ranked team out of the 29 MLS teams. Then Messi joined bringing with him Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba and Inter Miami have yet to lose a game. In 11 games, Messi has scored 11 goals and assisted 8 times. Inter Miami's record with Messi has been 11 wins, 1 draw, and 0 losses.

The club is also making a ton of money off of Messi. Between merchandise sales, ticket sales,etc., the club has made at least $200 million. FYI, the cheapest Inter Miami tickets are $74 and are on average $170.

Messi is currently playing for Argentina's national team so they can qualify for the 2026 FIFA World Cup that will be hosted in Mexico, the U.S.A., and Canada. Although, even without their star player, Inter Miami has won their most recent game against Sporting KC.

Due to his feats in the previous World Cup and in the MLS, Messi, along with 29 other players, is nominated for this year's Ballon'dOr. For those that don't know, the Ballon'dOr is the award that is given to the best player for mens soccer that year, and this would be Messi's 8th if he wins this. He currently has the most Ballon'dOrs in the world.

I think Messi has been a great addition to the MLS because he brought new fans, more attention, and more international players. Those international players have been and will continue to raise the playing level of soccer in the U.S.

 

Questions:

1. Do you think Messi is a good addition to the MLS? 

2. Why is Messi a good or bad addition to the MLS?

3. Would you go watch an Inter Miami game?

 

http://https://seatgeek.com/inter-miami-cf-tickets

http://https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/football/on-day-messi-deal-announced-inter-miamis-winless-streak-reaches-11-with-3-0-loss-to-st-louis-8841461/

http://https://www.foxsports.com/stories/soccer/lionel-messi-stats-tracker-every-goal-assist-and-trophy-for-inter-miami

http://https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/inter-miami-s-lionel-messi-nominated-for-ballon-d-or-2023#:~:text=Messi%2C%20whose%20world%2Drecord%20seven,French%20side%20Paris%20Saint%2DGermain.

http://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/messi-join-inter-miami-after-psg-exit-bbc-2023-06-07/#:~:text=%22After%20winning%20the%20World%20Cup,with%20more%20peace%20of%20mind.%22

[6 hugo dominguez]

I think the mls is a great option for out of prime players such as Messi the US can finally see him play. Its good revune for the team tickets used to be under a 100. I think more star players should play. I would love to watch my sounders go up against a washed Messi.

[5Matthew]

I agree that more star players should come play in the MLS.

[7Kennedy]

I think bringing Messi to the MLS is good because it brings more and more fans to come watch the MLS because of how big his repuatation is. I however personally would not go watch a Miami game because im not that into soccer but I could see it being a cool experience. 

[5Dallas McDowell]

I think Messi is helping the MLS in a big way. The addition of Messi helps bring more attention to the MLS. I would not go watch an Inter Miami game because I am not huge into soccer.

[5Matthew]

I agree that he is a big help to the MLS. I also understand not wanting to watch a soccer game.

[5Ben]

In my opinion, I think Messi is a great addition to the MLS because of his popularity. This means that a lot more people will watch because of his reputation. Personally, I am not big into watching sports, but I might watch and Inter Miami game.

[5Matthew]

I agree that he is a great addition because of his popularity.

[5Joseph]

I think that bringing Messi to the MLS was a good thing because it brings more fans to watch the MLS. I think it is good because Messi being in the MLS will most likely bring their profits up. I think if I had the opportunity to go watch an Inter Miami game I would go.

[5Matthew]

I agree that he brought more fans, I just hope they stay after he retires.

[5Levi]

I think Messi is a good addition to the MLS because he brings more attention to the sport. Messi also brings in a lot more money for both Miami and the team that Miami plays on the road. A lot of people want to see Messi play, so they will buy tickets to the closest game to them.